Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
During the summer, it usually takes husband and wife livestock producers Jack and Cathy Snell multiple days to track down and count their cattle on nearly 10,000 acres of pasture.
This year, due to severe drought, the cows haven’t been that hard to find. Most of the grass across the Pueblo County pasture is too dry for the animals’ taste. Instead, hundreds of cattle gathered near the Saint Charles Reservoir and nearby streams, a place they usually start grazing in November.
“Right now they're eating all of their winter pasture,” Jack Snell said.
It’s a tough year for farmers across Colorado, but the drought’s largest agricultural impact is on livestock producers, said Beth Hayes, a state emergency management coordinator at Colorado State University’s Pueblo extension office, at last month’s drought workshop in Pueblo. Across the country, drought is impacting approximately 50% of cattle, according to a June report from the National Drought Mitigation Center, leading many ranchers to sell their inventory. Drought is one driver of this major sell-off, but international competition, rising demand for beef and record-high prices for cattle are also pushing ranchers to sell.
Read the complete story at rmpbs.org/news
Produced by Chelsea Casabona
During the summer, it usually takes husband and wife livestock producers Jack and Cathy Snell multiple days to track down and count their cattle on nearly 10,000 acres of pasture.
This year, due to severe drought, the cows haven’t been that hard to find. Most of the grass across the Pueblo County pasture is too dry for the animals’ taste. Instead, hundreds of cattle gathered near the Saint Charles Reservoir and nearby streams, a place they usually start grazing in November.
“Right now they're eating all of their winter pasture,” Jack Snell said.
It’s a tough year for farmers across Colorado, but the drought’s largest agricultural impact is on livestock producers, said Beth Hayes, a state emergency management coordinator at Colorado State University’s Pueblo extension office, at last month’s drought workshop in Pueblo. Across the country, drought is impacting approximately 50% of cattle, according to a June report from the National Drought Mitigation Center, leading many ranchers to sell their inventory. Drought is one driver of this major sell-off, but international competition, rising demand for beef and record-high prices for cattle are also pushing ranchers to sell.
Read the complete story at rmpbs.org/news
Produced by Chelsea Casabona
